Turn Off Auto-Renew on Streaming Services
Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and the rest all renew automatically until you cancel. Here is exactly where to click on each service.
5 min read · 8 steps · Checked May 2026
Step 1. List everything you are paying for first
Before cancelling, get the full list. On iPhone: Settings → tap your name at the top → Subscriptions. Every iPhone-based subscription is listed with the next renewal date. On Android: open the Play Store → tap your profile photo → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions. For services not billed through your phone (Netflix, most streaming), look at your bank or credit card statement from the last month and search for recognizable names. Write the whole list on paper — you will want it.
Quick Tip
Quick Tip: Apps like Rocket Money and Bobby (free) scan your bank statement and find every subscription automatically. Worth running once a year.
Step 2. Netflix
Open a web browser and go to netflix.com. Sign in. Click your profile picture (top right) → "Account." Scroll to "Membership & Billing." Click "Cancel Membership." Confirm. Netflix keeps your account active through the end of the current billing period. You do not lose access right away. If you change your mind in the next 10 months, your viewing history and downloads come back automatically when you restart.
Step 3. Disney+ / Hulu / ESPN+ (the Disney bundle)
These three share one account now. Go to disneyplus.com (or hulu.com — same login) → sign in → click your profile picture → Account → under "Subscription" click "Cancel Subscription." Disney makes you click through a few "Are you sure?" pages — keep going. Access continues through the end of the billing period. If you subscribed through the Apple App Store or Google Play, you have to cancel on the phone instead (SettingsSubscriptions on iPhone; Play StoreSubscriptions on Android).
Warning
If you signed up for Disney+ through Verizon or another bundle, you usually have to cancel through Verizon, not Disney. Check the email confirmation that came when you signed up to find the right place.
Step 4. HBO Max / Max
Go to max.com → sign in → click your profile picture → "Subscription" → "Manage Subscription" → "Cancel Subscription." Confirm. Max often offers a "30% off if you stay" deal on this page — read it carefully before clicking through. Access continues until the end of the current billing period. Same as Disney, if you signed up through Apple or Google, cancel in your phone Settings instead.
Step 5. Amazon Prime Video
Prime Video usually comes with Amazon Prime. If you want to keep Prime (for free shipping) but stop Prime Video, you cannot — they are bundled. To cancel all of Amazon Prime: amazon.com → Account & ListsMemberships and SubscriptionsAmazon Prime → "End Membership." If you only have Prime Video standalone, the same path works. If you subscribe to a separate Prime Video channel (like Paramount+, BritBox, AMC+), each channel has its own cancel link on the same page.
Step 6. Apple TV+
On iPhone or iPad: Settings → tap your name → Subscriptions → "Apple TV+" → "Cancel Subscription." On a Mac: open the TV appAccount menuView My AccountSettingsSubscriptionsManageCancel. On a Windows PC or web browser: tv.apple.com → click your profile picture → SettingsSubscriptionsCancel. Apple TV+ often offers a free month to lure you back — read carefully before accepting.
Step 7. Peacock, Paramount+, Discovery+, AMC+, Britbox, Acorn
Same pattern for all of them: go to the service's website → sign in → click your profile/account → look for "Plan," "Subscription," or "Membership" → "Cancel" button is at the bottom of that page. The FTC's Click to Cancel rule (finalized in 2024) requires that cancelling be as easy as signing up — so the button must be on the website, not just by phone. If a service hides the button or forces a phone call, that is a violation and you can report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Step 8. Replace a stolen card without losing access (the trick)
If your card is replaced and you do not want any streaming service to renew, do nothing. They will all fail to charge and put your account in a paused state for 7-30 days. After that, they cancel automatically. This is the lazy person's mass cancellation. The only catch: you lose access right away when each charge fails, not at the end of the billing month. Use this trick only if you genuinely want to cancel.
Quick Tip
Quick Tip: A separate "subscription debit card" through Privacy.com (free for personal use) lets you create a virtual card just for subscriptions. Cancel a service by deleting the virtual card — no website hunting needed.
The average American household pays for 4-5 streaming services and watches maybe 2 of them regularly. The rest auto-renew silently every month — $7 here, $15 there — adding up to several hundred dollars a year for shows nobody opens.
Every streaming service has a way to turn off auto-renew so the account ends on the next billing date. You keep what you already paid for through the end of the month, then it stops charging. No phone calls, no chat agents, no hidden fees. Most companies make the button hard to find on purpose — this guide walks you to each one.
The other reason to know how: if your card was stolen and replaced, services keep trying to charge and start sending you "Update payment" emails. Turning off auto-renew stops those emails too.
(Sources: FTC Click to Cancel rule (final 2024), ftc.gov/click-to-cancel; Consumer Reports streaming guides, consumerreports.org; each service's official help center.)
Watch a walkthrough: search YouTube for "how to cancel Netflix Disney Plus Hulu 2026" — Consumer Reports posts updated tutorials each year.
Official sources
- Netflix Help Center — help.netflix.com
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